Alright, last one for the day…
I met Pastor Richard on the same night I met Jonny a week ago Sunday. I spent nearly 2 hours with the students in the bottom seating area of a local restaurant. When I heard that I was going to a college Bible study, my mind immediately flashed to maybe a dozen or so friends circled together in a living room. I couldn’t have been farther off. We showed up nearly 30 minutes early to a room that was already packed with students. By the time we started, there were over 60 students there, ready to hear the word of God. They have a very cool program going on with these students and it’s a blessing to be a part of it.
However, after my time with the students, my night wasn’t quite over. I was asked to go up one flight of stairs because there was another Bible study I was invited to. This study was for the local gangs and would present a totally different audience. Each week, Pastor Richard invites a couple of the gangs to come join him for a study. He can’t invite all of his groups at once because of rivalries and violence, but the meetings he has are peaceful. It was such a contrast to hear “How Beautiful You Are” and the college students singing along, just one flight away from these boys that have such hard lives and are rapping about transformation. The blessing is that many of these boys have come to know the Lord, but habits do die hard…
I was immediately asked to come and share my testimony and the love of God. After a short story and promise of the truth, I was asked to come back every week. The boys had already heard about my work in the prison, and they considered themselves blessed to be on my rounds. I just told them I was glad they made it in this way, and not through the jail. Many of these boys are even younger than the minors we already work with, but are well on their way to follow our boys if they don’t shape up.
I was able to talk with the pastor a little about his story, and it’s a blessing what he’s doing. He and another friend that started this ministry are former gang leaders and see the potential of the youth of this city. Many of the gangs here are run by older leaders, mostly in their early 20s, but heavily populated by boys in their mid teens. They do this because even if the boys get caught, they will rarely, if ever, get sent to jail because of their age. Essentially, these little boys are becoming child street soldiers and participating in everything from buying and selling drugs, to sex exploitation, to even fighting the street wars. They become expendable while the leaders tug at the strings.
Pastor Richard knows how targeted the youth are, and because of that, has made them targets for himself too. Most of the boys that join on Sundays still have the hard talk and exterior, but have also already given over their lives to Christ. It was an easy process for some, but others are still hiding because of it. I couldn’t even imagine what that would feel like, much less be that young. But there boys are making a transformation that they cannot doubt.
Whether they like it our not, these boys are the future of this city, and we need more of them doing things that matter and standing for things that are important. Pastor Richard is helping me with what it looks like to bring some of these boys into our rehab center as well because many of them have no shot at education either. Oh God, keep opening doors, and we’ll keep walking…
